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Gaming Couch Potato

Wednesday, 24 July 2013

PixelJunk Monsters: Ultimate HD game has been faithfully recreated for PS Vita in high definition, with 30+ hours of gameplay, online and ad-hoc co-op play and everything you loved about all the previous editions. Our very talented team put a lot of work into making this the definitive edition of Monsters!

If you've never played PixelJunk Monsters, here's a quick primer. As Tikiman, you must protect your helpless babies from waves of incoming monsters. You'll build weapon towers in the right places and at the right times in order to kill enemy monsters. You can grab coins and gems from fallen monsters to spend on building more towers, upgrading existing towers, or research towards powerful new towers. Monsters come thicker and faster as the waves advance, keeping the challenge consistent throughout.

The Ghost is someone who likes to get in and out of a mission, leaving absolutely no trace of their presence. You can either avoid contact with the enemy altogether (undisturbed hostiles give you the greatest challenge and reward), or knock them out. There are plenty of gadgets tailor-made for Ghosts; the proximity shocker is one of my favorites, especially when I feel like messing around with the AI. I'll lay down mines, fire off a sticky cam for reconnaissance and/or distraction (you can play sounds from the sticky cam to serve as a decoy), and then lure the baddies into my playground.

Panthers remain hidden as well, but strike with lethal force from the shadows. The close-quarter kills are impressively quick and quiet. There's also plenty of weaponry that either comes with built-in silencers or which can be equipped through the robust customization system. The Five-seveN isn't your default handgun anymore, but earning cash to get it (or, dare I say, even better guns) is plenty of fun. In all, we've got nearly 40 weapons -- each individually tuned -- that feel distinctly different. As long as you've got a silencer, and you take guys out without being detected, you're playing as a Panther.

Assault is a different beast altogether. If you are detected and start eliminating threats -- with or without a silencer -- you'll be earning cash under the Assault play style. You can obviously opt into it, by going loud from the get-go, but be warned: this will not be an easy path. You've got to accept the consequences of alerting the enemies to your whereabouts and risk getting taken out quickly. Make sure you fire first, or have your explosions be bigger than theirs. Proximity mines, grenades of various flavours, and high-caliber weaponry will be your best friends.

Understanding that you'll probably end up dabbling in all three play styles, how are you hoping to play?